Microsoft Confirms They Won’t Force Companies To Support Cross-Platform Play

Microsoft revealed the long-awaited Windows 10 yesterday and to much of the surprise of everyone, the company stepped up their cross-platform play initiative. The PC giant announced that with Windows 10, users will be able to use a designated Xbox One app to stream games from their Xbox One to their PC. While this sounds good and great, the feature will only be available for games that support it and not just stream the image like the PS4 to the Vita. This is due to the control schemes and troubles with perfect resolution that comes with video streaming.

While it seems like a no brainer for game companies to work within this new feature and allow their games to stream to the PC, Xbox exec, Phil Spencer, has indeed confirmed they will not force companies to support this feature.

“I think cross-platform play is an enabling technology to make games great.If somebody decides that cross-platform play isn’t something that’s going to make their game great, there’s no way I’d ever create a publishing requirement that says you must do this.”

The first game to support this feature will be Lionhead’s upcoming game, Fable Legends, and it will support cross-platform multiplayer between the Xbox One and PC.

This interaction, the cross-platform multiplayer interaction, is what causes players to be weary of this new feature. Many gamers believe that PC gamers have a distinct advantage in competitive situations due to the mouse and its responsiveness and fear that cross-platform gaming between a PC and a console will allow for the PC to win more often than not. Phil Spencer alluded to this to add that he thinks game companies will find a work around to this issue or may even just make playlists separate for each platform. This is something to look out for in the future and we will be sure to keep you guys always in the know.